Powers & The Table Deck
Your special abilities are fueled by Power Cards—drawn from the shared Table Deck and available for everyone at the Table to use.
Two Decks at the Table
Deck of Adventures uses two separate decks—one personal, one shared.
Action Deck
Your personal deck (52 cards, no Jokers). Draw from this for skill checks, attacks, and saves. Reshuffled after each draw.
Table Deck
Shared by everyone. The GM draws from this to create Target Cards and Power Cards that anyone at the Table can spend.
How Power Cards Work
Power Cards are drawn from the Table Deck and become a shared resourcefor everyone at the Table. The Table can hold a limited number of Power Cards at once.
Where Power Cards Come From
Call It: At the start of each player's turn, a card is drawn and becomes a Power Card.
Scene Change: Target Cards become Power Cards when the scene changes.
Defeated Enemies: When an enemy is defeated, their Target Card becomes a Power Card.
GM Awards: The GM may award Power Cards for creative roleplay or clever tactics.
| Table Level | Max Power Cards |
|---|---|
| Level 1-3 | 10 |
| Level 4-5 | 12 |
| Level 6-7 | 13 |
| Level 8-9 | 15 |
| Level 10 | 16 |
Overflow: If a Power Card would exceed the limit, you can either discard the new card or replace an existing Power Card.
Power Costs
Powers have different cost types. Anyone at the Table can contribute Power Cards to fuel abilities—coordinate with your team!
Suited Costs
Many powers require cards of a specific suit. The suit often matches the power's theme or the role that uses it.
Color Costs
Some powers accept any card of a color, giving more flexibility:
🔴 Red = Hearts or Diamonds
⚫ Black = Spades or Clubs
⚪ Any = Any suit
Poker Hand Costs
Powerful abilities require poker-style combinations:
Jokers (Wild)
Each player gets 2 personal Jokers per session. Jokers are wild—they can substitute for any card when paying costs, including completing poker hands!
Role Maneuvers
Each Role has a signature maneuver that defines their playstyle. These are Minor Actions available to all characters of that role.
Take one Power Card and reserve it for your next attack. The next time you deal damage, add that Power Card as a full suit of damage.
Flip the top card of your Action Deck. You can choose to move it to the bottom of your deck or leave it at the top.
Make a relevant Skill Draw against an enemy's DR. On success, any attack they make against an ally is done at Lower Hand.
Target creature may draw an additional card on any draw, save, or attack. Once used, the effect ends.
Archetype Signatures
Each Archetype has a powerful signature ability usable 1x per Scene. These define your character's unique combat identity.
Mark an enemy you can see. On a successful Attack Draw, make a Bonus Draw to add damage. Exchange a Power Card to change a drawn suit. Only one target may be marked at a time.
Create an illusory Stunt Double in an area you can see. It can move and make melee attacks using your INT. The Stunt Double has 1 HP of the drawn card's color.
Set a velvet rope and name enemies on the Black List. As a reaction, make a melee attack against any Black Listed enemy behind the rope. ♣ = Upper Hand. ⚪ = Grant ally armor.
Choose an ally and draw cards up to your Power Modifier. They can use cards to add damage or boost Recover. While holding cards, they have armor matching the card's suit.
Note: Only the first archetype for each role is shown above. Additional archetypes (Recursionist, Gambler, Bookie, Bartender) have their own unique signatures.
Consolation Damage
When you use Power Cards to fuel an attack that misses, the Power Cards don't go to waste—they deal Consolation Damage!
How It Works
Each Power Card spent deals ½ suit damage of its suit to the target.
Strategy: Even when you miss, you're still chipping away at the enemy. This makes Power-fueled attacks valuable even with poor draws!